Cut through the clutter

Plan for the platform

No one can just upload videos and expect that viewers will find their great content. Careful planning and a thorough understanding of the YouTube platform can help creative cut through the clutter to reach your target audience. Posting videos to your organization’s channels, websites, and social media accounts is only a first step.

Organic discovery refers to people finding your content spontaneously, all on their own, whether through search or recommendations. Recommendations can mean automated suggestions, or the social sharing that happens when viewers share your content with their networks, through social sites, blogs, or email.

Finally, paid promotion refers to the use of paid tools and advertising to make sure your videos get in front of specific audiences. Many brands find that paid promotion is usually required to meet campaign goals. Google offers several paid media options and tools for brands and organizations which will be covered in another lesson.

Understanding the mechanics behind how the three main ways videos can accrue watch time will be foundational to any strategy. Of course, equally important is a clear end goal, and the steps you’ll take to get there.

Off-platform discovery

Many viewers may not initially discover a video on YouTube, they may find it through a share or public embed. Here are a few places that viewers might find your content away from YouTube:

Blog or website

YouTube notifications

Social media

Top brands report social media posts that contain public embedded YouTube videos can earn up to 330% more interactions; many top brands embed their public YouTube content on their corporate websites.

In other lessons, we’ll focus on ways you can actively influence the discovery mechanisms built into and around your videos. It may feel a little mysterious right now, but you’ve got more power than you know!